Ex-UVA Lacrosse Player Gets 23 Years in Girlfriend Murder

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- George W. Huguely V, the former
University of Virginia lacrosse player convicted of beating to
death his sometimes girlfriend, Yeardley Love, was sentenced to
23 years in prison.

The jury “looked at the evidence with great care,”
Hogshire said during the sentencing hearing. “What they saw
evidence of was a brutal beating,” he said. “The level of
violence was palpable.”

Hogshire gave Huguely, 24, no additional time for stealing
Love’s computer, saying the one-year sentence recommended by the
jury would run concurrently with the term for murder. He also
put Huguely under three years of supervision after his release
from prison.

At one point during the almost four-hour hearing, Huguely,
dressed in a striped prison uniform, stood at the defense
counsel’s table, his voice breaking, and said to Love’s mother
and sister, “I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope and pray you
find peace.”

Domestic Violence

The death of Love, who was 22, raised awareness of domestic
violence on college campuses and led to a push for federal and
state laws expanding reporting requirements and information-sharing between law enforcement agencies, said Alison Kiss,
executive director of the Clery Center for Security on Campus,
an advocacy group.

Huguely, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was acquitted of first-degree murder, robbery, burglary, breaking and entering and
murder in the commission of a robbery. Found guilty of beating
Love to death in her bedroom at her Charlottesville apartment,
Huguely told police he had no intention of killing her.

He asked the judge for a sentence of no more than 14 years.

While Virginia law doesn’t allow for parole, Huguely could
cut his sentence by 15 percent with credit for good conduct in
prison, according to a state Department of Corrections document.

‘Behind Us’

“We are relieved to put this chapter behind us,” Love’s
mother, Sharon, and sister, Lexie, said in a statement handed to
reporters after the sentencing. “We would like to thank
everyone for showing us such kindness during the most difficult
time of our lives.”

The Huguely family released its own statement, saying they
still believed George hadn’t intentionally caused Love’s death.

“We love George and will always support him,” they said.
“We hope and pray that the passage of time will bring some
semblance of peace and healing to each and every one who has
been affected by this tragedy, most especially the Love
family.”

Love’s family has sued the state and university officials
seeking more than $29 million in damages, alleging they failed
to properly handle a 2009 incident where Huguely attacked a
lacrosse teammate while drunk. Her family has also filed a
lawsuit against Huguely.

In a final statement to Hogshire, prosecutor Warner Chapman
said there were three wakeup calls for Huguely before Love’s
death: the attack on a fellow UVA student, an arrest in
Lexington, Virginia, in 2008 after drunken confrontation with a
police officer, and a surprise attack on a lacrosse teammate. He
presented three witnesses who recounted violent encounters with
Huguely.

‘Kill Someone’

“Sooner or later he was going to seriously injure or kill
someone,” Chapman said. “The issue isn’t too much alcohol, the
issue is too much violence.”

The defense offered four witnesses, including Huguely’s
aunt, who supported his lawyer’s argument that the three
incidents were isolated and didn’t characterize the life of a
young man they said was a leader, spiritually oriented and a
religious Catholic.

Love’s badly bruised body was discovered by a friend and
fellow player on her lacrosse team who went to her apartment at
about 2 a.m. on May 3, 2010. Love, of Cockeysville, Maryland,
was in her bedroom, face down on a pillow in a pool of blood.

Bedroom Door

Huguely told police investigators he entered Love’s
apartment through the unlocked front door and then kicked open
the door to her bedroom. He said the two had an altercation
during which he “shook Love and her head repeatedly hit the
wall,” according to an affidavit filed by prosecutors.

At his trial prosecutors portrayed Huguely as a violent man
who intentionally murdered the young woman.

The defense attempted to show that Huguely and Love had a
tempestuous relationship animated by jealousies that led both to
lash out physically.

As jurors weighed the case, they asked to see a handwritten
letter put into evidence that Huguely sent Love in February
2010, in which he apologized for putting her in a choke hold. In
the letter, found by police with Love’s belongings, Huguely
wrote, “Alcohol is ruining my life. I’m scared to know that I
can get drunk to the point where I can’t control how I act.”